Undercover with the Hottie (Investigating the Hottie)

by Alexander, Juli

  “As you can imagine, I have serious concerns about the state of our surveillance and the limitations to which we have been confined by the wishes of the international community. I have a great deal of work to do to repair our valued relationships without submitting to untenable circumscriptions in intelligence gathering.

  “I thank you for your service to your country, and I thank you tonight for my life. It is an honor to work with each and every one of you as we pilot this country into the new year.”

  “Thank you, Madame President,” Jobson said.

  She nodded and then disconnected.

  “Let's give ourselves a hand,” Jobson said.

  We all clapped, and the smiles continued.

  “We'll be debriefing Will and Amanda shortly. However, I do want to bring everybody up to date on the developments tonight. We have tied the male terrorist to a terror organization that calls itself, TT23. Once we were able to find this connection, we have managed to place the woman with several of their leaders at various times. We didn't have a good shot of her face, but I do think that we can positively identify her in these pictures based on her build and the portions of her face that are revealed. We can trace her to the terrorist group, but we don't have a name for her at this time. She did not have any fingerprints, and there is a good chance that she has had one or more surgeries to alter her facial structure.

  “As for Simon Bankwell, he has been released on the promise to cooperate fully as developments continue in this case. There will be an extensive discussion about charging Bankwell for his role in the attempt, or rather feigned attempt, on the Secretary-General. The Director of GASI will need to define our future relationship with Bankwell and the Avaritia Militia.

  “Shortly after midnight, the Secretary-General allowed us to sweep the UN buildings and vehicles for bugs. We found devices from at least four different sources. Bankwell identified those belonging to his group. We were able to identify those of the terrorist organization by the location. Only those located at particular locations could have picked up anything related to the fake attempt on the Secretary-General. The terrorists obviously had this information, the information that prompted them to kill the sniper and then attempt to hang the entire plot around the AM's neck. We are still working on the others. A number of bugs were found in the Town Cars, which indicates that we weren't the only ones who utilized that avenue of surveillance. We isolated fingerprints on several of the devices, so we expect additional arrests after sunup.”

  Jobson looked around the room. “Did I forget anything?”

  A rumbling of “No, sirs” went through the room.

  “You're dismissed. Everybody get some sleep and report in no earlier than 9:30. Will and Amanda, I need you guys to hang around so you don't have to come back tomorrow.”

  The other agents made their way out of the room.

  When only the five of us remained, Jobson came over to us. “Job well done,” he said. “I don't know when I've had a team that could transition so flawlessly from one task to another. I thank God for the day you decided to cause trouble on those internet sites, Brenda.”

  We all laughed. Grandma was a handful.

  Jobson debriefed us himself, with the help of Nic and Christie. Grandma had slipped away for a cat nap while we took care of business. On her way out, she'd said, “I bet I'm the only woman over the age of sixty-five who hasn't been to bed by two a.m.”

  There certainly wasn't another woman over sixty-five who'd just saved the President.

  We recounted the events of Tuesday, and in particular, Tuesday night. Then we signed our daily reports from the day after Christmas through Monday.

  Jobson beamed at us when we finished. “So what are the big plans for tomorrow?”

  Christie glanced at me. “Amanda gets to plan the day. We made a bet, and I lost.”

  “Whatever you do, I know you'll have fun.” He stood and shook each of our hands. “It's a pleasure working with you. I look forward to next time.”

  Next time? I hadn't thought about it, but next time could come soon, like next week. How was I going to keep up my normal life and this one? And would my parents let me continue? Because I didn't want to hide this anymore. And besides, how many more weird and sudden trips could arise before they suspected something was up?

  “Did you two ever eat?” Christie asked after we collected Grandma.

  “Ham and cheese sandwiches and caramel popcorn,” I answered.

  “It's something,” Christie said with a shrug. “What are we doing tomorrow?”

  “Will and I are skating at Rockefeller Center.” I raised my brow in a silent question to Will.

  “Sounds good,” he said.

  “We could go to the observation deck at the Empire State Building,” Nic suggested. “You didn't exactly get the full tour.”

  “I'll think about it.” I wasn't sure I wanted to return so soon.

  “Hey, Nic,” Will said. “Whose limo was that?”

  He shook his head. “I'm not at liberty to say.”

  “Did it belong to a celebrity?” I asked.

  Nic just smiled.

  Chapter Twenty

  Rockefeller center was buzzing with people on New Year's Day. I'd always wanted to see the Christmas tree up close and personal, and I wasn't disappointed. The tree was gigantic, and I wasn't sure how they got it into the city.

  As Will and I stood in line for skates, it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't asked him if he knew how. I'd just assumed since he was from a northern state that he could. “Are you a good skater?” I asked.

  He gave me his crooked grin. “I'm decent.”

  “Decent like art-decent or decent like soccer-decent?” He was an excellent soccer player, and I was hoping he was at least adequate at skating.

  “Almost but not quite soccer-decent. I would never say my art was decent!”

  “Good to know,” I said, wishing we weren't wearing gloves so I could feel the reassuring touch of his hand on mine.

  “What about you? Will you be able to sit down when we leave here.”

  I huffed at his implication that I'd be falling a lot. “I'm not great, but I can stay on my feet. Way better than art.”

  “I guess you'll be okay when I leave you alone to do my triple lutz for the crowd.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right.”

  He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “Don't underestimate me.”

  “Fine. Then you can spin me around really fast with my head almost hitting the ground. You know, like they do at the Olympics.”

  “No, we'd need more room, and I wouldn't want to hurt any of the other skaters.”

  “You mean you wouldn't want them to slip in my blood when you smacked my head into the ice.” I put my hands on my hips and speared him with my harshest stare.

  He stared me down for a few moments. Then he caved. “Okay, fine. I can do a single lutz though.”

  “Do you even know what a lutz is?” I asked, threatening to punch him in the stomach.

  “No.” He grinned at me. “How about we just hold hands and skate around the rink?”

  I stood on my toes and kissed him on the lips. “Sounds perfect.”

  After Will proved that he could skate, if not on a competitive level at least better than I could, we went looking for an indoor activity to warm up.

  “Logan said we should do the observation deck,” Will said. “The Top of the Rock.”

  The truth was that we hadn't seen much of the city. We'd been too busy working. “I'd like that. We didn't get to take advantage of the Empire State Building.”

  We bought tickets and stood in line. Before long, we were on the observation deck looking out over Central Park.

  “Someday I'll take you for a carriage ride through Central Park,” Will said. “Not in January though.”

  I smiled up at him. “You are a romantic.”

  “You didn't know that?”

  I shook my head. “No.” I sighed. “I wish we
didn't live so far apart.”

  He put his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. Even though our heavy coats separated us by a good six inches, the gesture was reassuring. “Me too.”

  Looking up into his eyes, I said, “We should ask GASI to give us our own plane.”

  “And a pilot.”

  “We did just save the President,” I whispered.

  “True. Maybe they could give us a trillion frequent flyer miles,” he said. “Then we could take turns visiting each other.”

  “Good idea.” I nodded. “Much more reasonable than our own plane. How could they say no?”

  “They couldn't.”

  “Will?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “I'd kiss you but I can't feel my lips.”

  He laughed. “Neither can I. Let's go inside and find somewhere warm to eat lunch.”

  “And maybe warm up our lips?” I asked.

  His gaze dropped to my lips. “Amanda Peterson, are you flirting with me?”

  I nodded. “I've got some lip balm.” I pulled it out and swiped some on my lips. “Want some?” I put the lip balm back in my pocket.

  “Yes,” he said, holding out his hand.

  I pointed to my lips. “Come and get it.”

  He blinked. Then he smiled.

  “Race you inside,” I said, turning to run for the elevator.

  After we'd eaten lunch, shopped, looked at the art at Rockefeller Center, and of course, shared quite a bit of lip balm, we met Christie and Nic for dinner.

  “We have a surprise for you,” Christie said.

  I looked around. “What? Is the President coming?”

  “No,” she said. “But we decided that you and Will met when you were in Princeton. You played some scrimmages and then when you saw him again at the Mock UN, you guys started hanging out. You can take some pictures with your cell phones back at the loft. We just need to hide anything related to GASI. And we'll make some fake photos of you two at the Mock UN sessions.”

  Was she seriously saying that I didn't have to hide Will anymore? “You mean I can tell people we're dating?”

  “As long as you stick to the story, you can tell your friends and family about each other. Of course, we'll have to change a few details, but I figured it was better than nothing.”

  “You are the best aunt ever!” I said and hugged her.

  When I turned back around, Will snapped a picture of me.

  “If that shows me or Nicky, you'll have to delete it,” Christie warned.

  “Don't call me Nicky,” her partner growled.

  She ignored him.

  Will winked at me. “I'm going to need a lot of pictures.”

  “Well, your family already knows me,” I said.

  “Will, you'll have to be more discreet considering your friends have met Amanda,” Nic said.

  “No problem. The pictures are for me.”

  “No posting them on facebook though,” Nic said.

  “We can go over the rules later,” Christie said. “Let's eat.”

  “We got an update from Headquarters. They tracked some listening devices to one of the mechanics who serviced the Town Cars. They believe he was spying for the terrorists.” Nic ran his hand through his hair. “He's probably the one that busted me and led to them targeting Christie.”

  “Are you guys going to get to question him?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah,” Christie said, her eyes narrowed. “I'm looking forward to it.”

  I desperately wanted another night in New York, but my parents were expecting me tonight. My faux family dropped me at the airport at ten that night. I hugged Nic and Christie. Then Will and I shared a kiss that had Nic and Christie making barfing noises.

  “You're so immature,” I complained as I pulled away from Will.

  “I'll miss you,” my boyfriend said.

  “I'll miss you more,” I said. Then I grabbed my suitcase and headed for security. I wanted to turn around and run back to Will and never let him go, but I couldn't. I didn't bother to try because Christie would probably shoot me with a tranquilizer dart and have me transported to Atlanta unconscious. It was hard to get your way when people had resources that impressive.

  After I boarded the plane, I sat waiting for the rest of the passengers to sort themselves out. I couldn't tell my parents about GASI until Christie came down. She had promised to come in two weeks for the next holiday weekend, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I could tell my parents and Lexi about Will as soon as I got home. I grinned to myself.

  My phone rang and the screen lit with my favorite picture of Will. “Hey,” I said after accepting the call.

  “I miss you already,” Will said.

  “Me too,” I managed through my grin.

  “Talk to you tonight?”

  “Definitely.”

  After disconnecting, I scrolled through to my second favorite picture. Me and Will in Mock UN T-shirts and jeans, standing together and smiling for the camera. This one was going in my locker.

  Going undercover with my hottie hadn't been exactly what I'd expected. I could have used more cuddle time, but today had been absolutely perfect. We had done a great job on the mission despite blowing our covers. We'd saved lives, and we'd prevented an economic collapse. I needed to talk to Christie about those frequent flyer miles.

  I pulled my lip balm from my pocket. Grinning, I put some on. I'd stuck my extra tube in the pocket of Will's jacket when he wasn't paying attention.

  Maybe GASI would need us soon. And maybe the mission would involve kissing. Lots of kissing. As the plane pulled away from the gate, I drifted off, dreaming of Will's kisses.

  About the Author

  Juli Alexander writes fiction for young adults. Undercover with the Hottie is the sequel to Investigating the Hottie, a 2012 release. Juli also writes the Stirring Up Trouble Series, and plans to release the third book in that series this year. The next Hottie book is scheduled for release in December 2014. Also check out Three Wishes, My Life as the Ugly Stepsister, and Valentine's Day Sucks.

  You can find Juli at julialexanderauthor.com and contact her via Goodreads, facebook, or twitter @juli_alexander.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Unnamed

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  About the Author